NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TX – The Wichita Falls Warriors, (1-0) defeat the Lone Star Brahmas (0-1)
by a score of 5-3 in game one from the NYTEX Sports Centre. The Warriors would be sparked
from two goals in each of the first two periods.
The first period would start rather slow. A playoff game filled with energy and game one jitters
would take some time to get going. Both teams came out and played very defensive hockey. The
Brahmas had a couple of good grade A opportunities but one would not go. Scoring would not
begin until Carter Korpi (1) would open the scoring on the power play in the first to give the
Warriors a 1-0 lead late in the third. Exactly three minutes later Alex Konovalov (1) of the
Brahmas would tie the game at 1-1. In the last minute of the first period, Thomas Weis (1) would
give the Warriors the edge 2-1 and shift the momentum back the way of the Warriors. As the
horn sounded we would sit at a 2-1 warriors lead after the first 20 minutes.
The second period we would see a much more faster paced period of hockey. At this point both
teams had their feet wet and were fully bringing it. Hits were being laid out left and right and
opportunities started to ramp up. Just over three minutes into the period Drew Vieten (1) would
give the Warriors a 3-1 lead. The Warriors would hold a two goal lead for majority of the second
period as they played a much more defensive game and played their style of hockey. Halfway
through the second period, Nicholas Niemo (1) would cut the Warrior lead 3-2. The one goal
lead would not last long as Joseph Harguindeguy (1) would give the Warriors a 4-2 lead on the
power play for the Warriors second power play goal of the game. Three second period penalties
for the Brahmas would give the advantage to the Warriors and after 40 minutes of play, the score
was 4-2 in favor of the Warriors.
The third and final period would be the icing on the cake. In a period that had saw only one
penalty and tons of shots from both sides, there would only be two goals. Warriors goaltender
Owen Bartoszkiewicz would make not just one save but multiple saves that kept the Warriors
having a two goal lead. Lone Star closed the gap when Zach Purcell (1) shot the puck from the
blue line to cut the Warrior lead to 4-3. With two minutes left the Brahmas would pull goalie
Guy Blessing. Captain Jackson Wozniak would fire the puck towards the empty net but it would
hit the post and go wide. Just one minute later, Drew Vieten (2) would hammer home the empty
net goal for his second of the game and give the Warriors a 5-3 lead with just :45 seconds left in
the 3rd period. The Warriors would win their first ever playoff game by a score of 5-3 and take a
1-0 lead in the series against the Brahmas.
Owen Bartoszkiewicz would get his first playoff win, as he made 24 saves on 27 shots. Guy
Blessing credited for the loss, would make 23 saves on 27 shots.
